Safety hinges



Aug. 27, 1968 w. D. MCGAHEE 3,398,426

SAFETY HINGES Original Filed Sept. 2, 1964 INVENTOR. F G, 3. WEL HOUR/V5 0. mam/5 United States Patent 3,398,426 SAFETY HINGES Welbourne D. McGahee, Satellite Beach, Fla, assignor of one-fourth each to William R. Maddux, Miami, and Jim Rathmann, Melbourne, Fla.

Original application Sept. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 393,894, now Patent No. 3,263,269, dated Aug. 2, 1966. Divided and this application June 17, 1966, Ser. No. 574,486

Claims. (Cl. 16169) This invention relates generally to the art of hinges for supporting doors and the like, and more particularly with loose-pin safety hinges having a nonrising pin or pintle. More specifically, this invention relates to improved safety hinges having nonrising pintles that cannot be removed by unauthorized persons to gain entry or egress without the permission of the owner of the premises.

This application is a divisional application of applicants co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 393,894 filed Sept. 2, 1964, now Patent No. 3,263,269, and entitled, Safety Hinges.

Various means have been devised to provide nourising pintles, see, for example, the US. patent to Gawlik 2,566,486 or the US. patent to Welker 2,978,736. The hinge structure herein disclosed might be thought of as improvements over the prior art.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved loose-pintle safety hinge having a nonrising pm.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for positively holding the pintle against improper movement.

Yet another object is to provide means whereby the pintle cannot be removed without considerable difiiculty unless the door is open.

Other objects and advantages will clearly appear from a description of preferred embodiments as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a conventional hinge with retainer;

FIG. 2 illustrates the retainer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a conventional hinge with a retainer modified to accommodate a spherical pintle upper head.

Similar reference characters are applied to similar elements throughout the drawings.

Turning now to FIGS. l-3, the leaves 1, 2 of a conventional hinge are shown with the usual holding screws 1a and 2a. The flat pintle head 11 is held from upward movement from use or from unauthorized removal to gain entrance or exit by a pintle retainer 3 best seen in FIG. 2. The retainer 3 is mounted by screws 3a, 3b through holes 3c in the retainer 3 just above the conventional hinge as shown in FIG. 1. When the door is closed this portion of the retainer 3 along with the hinge leaves will be inaccessible whereby the retainer cannot be removed so that the pintle might be knocked out with a hammer blow or pulled out with pliers. The retainer 3 is provided with a ninety degree bend at 4, an upper fiat portion 5 extending outward from the bend, another bend at 6 substantially one hundred eighty degrees, and a lower member having fork portions 7, 8 providing a slot 9 that fits around the pintle. The resulting space 10 between the forked position and the upper flat portion 5 accommo- 3,398,426 Patented Aug. 27, 1968 dates the fiat head 11 of the pintle. The retainer 3 is made of suitable material, such as hard steel, which cannot be easily bent out of shape by means, say, of a screwdriver. It is seen that a hinge and retainer has been provided that precludes the unauthorized removal of a hinge pintle without considerable ditficulty which, in itself, may discourage a burglar from attempting removal because of possible noise and the time required to effect entry or egress, as the case may be.

FIG. 3 shows a modified retainer 13 with bend 14, upper portion 15, bend 16, in all respects the same as the retainer 3 except that the bend 16 is such as to provide the space required to accommodate the spherical pintle head 12. The retainers 3 and 13 are exemplary for those required for the flat type pintle head 11 and the spherical type pintle head 12. Modification of the retainer to accommodate other types of pintle heads will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

It can be seen from the instant invention that simple and rugged means have been provided that prevent undesired movement of the pin upward and also prevent unauthorized removal of the pin in door hinges.

While for purposes of description I have shown and described specific embodiments of my invention, it will be apparent that changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hinge with a pair of leaves having knuckles with "a pintle with a head therethrough comprising -a pintle retainer member, a first flat portion on said retainer member having at least one hole adapted to receive means to secure said retainer member to a fiat surface, a first bond in said retainer member, a second fiat portion following said first bend, a second bend in said retainer, a pair of fork members following said second bend defining a slot adapted to fit around said pintle below said pintle head, said fork members and said second fiat portion defining a space receiving the said pintle head whereby the pintle is restrained in movement.

2. A hinge in accordance with claim 1 wherein the first flat portion on said retainer member comprises a pair of holes therethrough.

3. A hinge in accordance with claim 1 wherein said retainer member is made of a hard metallic material resistant to bending.

4. A hinge in accordance with claim 1 wherein said pintle head is flat.

5. A hinge in accordance with claim 1 wherein said pintle head is spherical.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,830,885 11/1931 Purdy 16--169 2,566,486 9/ 1951 Gawlik 16-169 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner.

D. L. TROUTMAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A HINGE WITH A PAIR OF LEAVES HAVING KNUCKLES WITH A PINTLE WITH A HEAD THERETHROUGH COMPRISING A PINTLE RETAINER MEMBER, A FIRST FLAT PORTION ON SAID RETAINER MEMBER HAVING AT LEAST ONE HOLE ADAPTED TO RECEIVE MEANS TO SECURE SAID RETAINER MEMBER TO A FLAT SURFACE, A FIRST BOND IN SAID RETAINER MEMBER, A SECOND FLAT PORTION FOLLOWING SAID FIRST BEND, A SECOND BEND IN SAID RETAINER, A PAIR OF FORK MEMBERS FOLLOWING SAID SECOND BEND DEFINING A SLOT ADAPTED TO FIT AROUND SAID PINTLE BELOW SAID 